DEAR EDWARD by Ann Napolitano
4.5/5 Stars
This was such a beautiful book. I must have been living under a rock when it came out in 2020 because I hadn’t heard anything about it. It was picked up for a bunch of different book clubs and awards and after reading it I can see why. Unfortunately, I read most of it while on a plane. It’s about a plane crash, though, so I do not recommend doing that… or if you have a fear of flying, go ahead and skip it. The chapters vacillate between the day of the crash and present day featuring the lone survivor, a boy named Edward. I loved this book so much– I cried while reading it and everything. It is a beautiful story about survival, family, friends, and hope.
LEFT ON TENTH by Delia Ephron
5/5 Stars
Okay. This is one of the best memoirs I’ve ever read. (Only second to Know My Name, I think.) I had an ARC through Libro.fm and it comes out on April 12. If you love beautifully written memoirs, I cannot recommend this enough. Delia Ephron (yes, Nora Ephron’s sister) wrote this beautiful memoir about her second chance at love and life. It’s equal parts heartwarming and heartbreaking. I listened to this during a couple of long drives and I found myself completely immersed. Delia Ephron narrates the audiobook herself and, truly, it feels like you’re sitting down and catching up with an old friend.
Content warning for cancer and cancer treatment.
THE SIMPLE WILD by K. A. Tucker
3.5/5 Stars
So take my review with a grain of salt. I enjoyed it, but didn’t totally love it. But I am not sure the genre is my normal cup of tea. It’s also a series and I’ve heard the series gets better after the foundation laid in the first book. A young woman finds out devastating news about her estranged father. She leaves her home in Canada to visit him in Alaska and finds herself torn between the two very different worlds. It read as a young adult book, but the main character Calla is 26, not 16. She behaved so much like a teenager (living at home, whining about not having her makeup, behaving very immaturely, etc.) and I just couldn’t comprehend– or believe– that she was a 26 year old woman. There was also a scene where she does something to another character while he’s sleeping and I felt like it crossed a line of consent. It was also incredibly predictable. I did like reading it though in the way you might enjoy a Lifetime Movie… and I really liked that it was set in Alaska! Not sure that I’d read the second book though…
THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD MOTHERS by Jessamine Chan
2.75/5 Stars
Let me preface this by saying The School For Good Mothers is getting a LOT of hype right now. I may just be in the minority in that I didn’t like it. Almost at all. I thought the premise was promising– a dystopian-esque novel about a government run “school” where mothers accused of various forms of child neglect/abuse go to learn how to become “good mothers.” Think Handmaid’s Tale. As a new mom though… it was hard to read because there’s a lot of, well, child abuse and neglect. I don’t think this counts as a spoiler, but I also thought leaving a baby at home for two hours was objectively a very bad choice. And as disturbing as it was…. it was also incredibly boring and repetitive for me. I almost DNF’d multiple times and decided to keep going to see how it ended. Would love to know what you thought if you’ve read it!
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